I have blogged elsewhere that George Bush & Co. would like to paint all insurgents in Iraq as "Al Qaeda" or "related to Al Qaeda." This is a gross simplification. As Prof. Juan Cole points out today in his blog Informed Comment, there must be at least 50 different insurgent groups, all of whom want the foreigner to quit Iraq:
"The US military in Iraq is launching a "sustained" campaign against "al-Qaeda" in Iraq. Since presumably this is what they have been doing for four years, I suppose it means they will do so now in accordance with better counter-insurgency tactics than just 'search and destroy,' which alienates the local population. The problem I foresee is that the guerrilla resistance to the US military presence in Sunni Arab Iraq isn't just the Salafi Jihadis or what the US calls 'al-Qaeda.' There are 50 cells of all ideological stripes, including four Baath Parties. (Emphasis added). I don't think the Iraqi Sunnis want us there (I think in polling only 8% said they did, and then to protect them from the Shiites; even the tribes fighting 'al-Qaeda' in al-Anbar province have no love for the al-Maliki government, for the most part)."
By painting every insurgent group with the Al Qaeda colors, George Bush and henchmen can claim that Iraq is the main battleground in the "war on terror." In this way can Bush justify his disastrous and illegal war in Iraq.
"The US military in Iraq is launching a "sustained" campaign against "al-Qaeda" in Iraq. Since presumably this is what they have been doing for four years, I suppose it means they will do so now in accordance with better counter-insurgency tactics than just 'search and destroy,' which alienates the local population. The problem I foresee is that the guerrilla resistance to the US military presence in Sunni Arab Iraq isn't just the Salafi Jihadis or what the US calls 'al-Qaeda.' There are 50 cells of all ideological stripes, including four Baath Parties. (Emphasis added). I don't think the Iraqi Sunnis want us there (I think in polling only 8% said they did, and then to protect them from the Shiites; even the tribes fighting 'al-Qaeda' in al-Anbar province have no love for the al-Maliki government, for the most part)."
By painting every insurgent group with the Al Qaeda colors, George Bush and henchmen can claim that Iraq is the main battleground in the "war on terror." In this way can Bush justify his disastrous and illegal war in Iraq.
No comments:
Post a Comment